Dave Mustaine has “learned a valuable lesson” from coverage of his political comments

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has attracted a fair amount of media attention this year for his political thoughts. First he revealed that he was a member of the ‘birther’ movement (who don’t believe Barack Obama was actually born in the US) and then he suggested at a gig in Singapore that a spate of high profile gun attacks back in the States had actually been orchestrated by the President so that he could implement stronger gun laws.

Now he’s realised saying all that might have been a bit silly. He told Rolling Stone: “You can’t say what you want to say any more without people punishing you. You can’t joke around very much anymore without people misinterpreting what you’re saying. You know, I probably should’ve said things differently. I probably should’ve skipped [the comments made in Singapore] altogether. I learned a valuable lesson from all of this stuff”.

He went on to point out that the comments he made about the (then still very recent) mass shootings were actually theories initially put forward by pro-gun activist Larry Pratt, adding that he’s not sure, therefore, why it was he rather than Pratt that got all the flack in the media. Perhaps because it was he, rather than Pratt, who preached the rather loony theory in a foreign country at a rock concert.

“He said something about it and no one went after him. But everyone went crazy on me”, continued Mustaine. “I’ve been talking about politics my whole career. The second album – my God, it shows the UN completely blown up and destroyed. So I don’t know why, all of a sudden, now’s the time for people to take exception with what I’m saying”.

Hmm, remember what I said about preaching loony theories at rock concerts, Dave?

But anyway, back to that important lesson Dave’s learned: “I noticed that, yeah, I do say some stuff that’s kinda… you know, it’s a little vulgar. I need to remember that being a public figure, I have a choice. I can be a really good example for people – which I really desire to do – or not. I mean, Marilyn Manson went to the airport with ‘Fuck You’ written on his forehead. That’s just not my style”.